Ad Popups, Viruses, Malware

[canid]

a reformat will fix it. as long as the bootloader is also remove, and reinstalled [fresh windows install], there is no possibility of it not removing it.

what i twill not do is fix the vulnerability vector. to fix that, you will have to stop using the service which was compromised until you are patched against the vulnerability, or it will only happen again.

[Rick]

That is why I use Norton. Not that it's any better than McAfee or others but it's a brand name that does a good job. I don't have to worry about some fool trying to rip me off. Sometimes, you get what you pay for.

[canid]

you shouldn't trust any antivirus, firewall or ips too much. there's only so much comfort in deadbolting the door when the window is propped open.

a lot of malware takes surprisingly little modification to become completely undetectable by even the better regarded security scanners, and none of them deal with 0day threats, which are more common than ever.

[Rick]

I couldn't agree more. I was just comparing and contrasting AV software. I have multiple levels of security and so far, (knock on wood) I've been lucky. There's hardly a day that goes by I don't receive a notice that some threat has been identified and either removed or quarantined. But you are correct. No one should think they are protected with only one or two levels of security.

[Batch]

I use Eset Smart Security, EMSi A-squared Free, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

I also use Adblock Plus in Firefox.

[Ken]

I just got bombarded by some Trojan spyware (medium threat) that seems to be attacking my Symantec Anti-virus software!

Symantec and Spyware Doctor each just notified me of about 20 attempts in the last 3 minutes.

I think I'll log off and run some anti-virus software. Catch you all in a little while!

[your_comforting_company]

stay away from photobucket gang.. the whole place is hacked. the ads on the redirect advertisements are tearing up pcs everywhere.. do a search for photobucket virus and see what turns up.. this bug (that we got) infects and disables your antivirus, etc. If stuff starts popping up from antivirus software that you don't have, then you got the bug.
good luck Ken!

[crashdive123]

I use Photobucket all the time and haven't noticed a problem. I never click on the pop up ads though.

[canid]

yeah, i don't think photobucket has been compromised, i think your browser configuration and possibly host file have.

[Batch]

I don't get popups on photobucket and I use it all the time.

[your_comforting_company]

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&num=20&...5ba2ba7015c9c3

since I have no interest in ebay, here's a discussion about it.. it's popping up everywhere. http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Pho...t-At/520181984
go down to the 4th or 6th posts and you'll see.. stay away from photobucket for a while. After I fixed the virus a week ago, it came back.. you might be infected and it just hasn't blown up yet.. be careful.. this thing is bad and it's spreading everywhere... anyone heard from Ken since he went to debug his pc?

I've been fighting with this thing all day.. not sure if I've beaten it yet.. I hate computers

[Rick]

I seem to recall Photobucket getting hacked a year or so ago. I will place good money on the fact that there are multiple viruses embedded in photos on their site and any other site that allows outside folks to post to them. The problem for the user is not the fact that the virus is there but to keep it from gaining access to your PC. There's hardly a day that goes by that some email spam comes in and Norton tells me it was infected.

I'm sure photobucket scrubs their data and looks for viruses but I don't think they could get 100% of them every minute of every day. There has to be some lag there. If you happen upon a photo that hasn't been scanned yet and your don't have AV software or your software doesn't handle that particular virus then you'll have a problem.

[canid]

i don't know anything about them being hacked [and haven't found anything substantial in any whitepapers still], but there have been multiple vulnerabilities in the last couple years in session authentication, etc. which allow cross site scripting attacks, global viewability of private albums/media.

the point again is that if your browser has been compromised, you have no way to be sure you are viewing the site you believe you are viewing. a site does not have to be compromised for it's users view of reality to be manipulated.

gif/jpeg parsing vulnerabilities are not common, but they certainly do happen from time to time.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

Which browser do you use Canid? I used Firefox and still got the virus, From what I understand firefox is supposed to be one the best!

[canid]

it is one of the best, but as i said, nothing is prepared against 0day vulnerabilities.

i use Mozilla, but i use it on a linux platform, which is still susceptible to some browser attacks, but not any that require the execution of microsoft proprietary libraries.

[Rick]

I'm using Firefox as well. It's a great platform as far as I'm concerned but you have to stop the attack at the front door.

[Rick]

Here's the info on the Hack. Looks like a June 2008 date based on the article.

http://photography.about.com/b/2008/...cked-again.htm

[rwc1969]

I'm afraid to even click on links about viruses and such. Maybe the links have the viruses. Canid, you sound quite knowledgable about internet security. Do you work in the field?

[Rick]

Actually, he's a virus posing as a knowledgeable person. Tricky buggers.

[2dumb2kwit]

I'm afraid to even click on links about viruses and such. Maybe the links have the viruses. Canid, you sound quite knowledgable about internet security. Do you work in the field?

Now you're just being silly.........We all know that most computers are indoors! LOL